


The Girl Without A Name

by Tht0neGal666



Series: The It, The Girl, The Shadow [2]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Robin (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cass went to gotham much younger, Curiosity killed the cat, F/F, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Gen, Gotham, Just a drabble, Mute Cassandra Cain, Steph is a gothamite, Tim is a Gothamite, Tim's a little asshole, and now protective!, and probably codependant!, hinted neglect, lets loosely say this is like a few months after Hypothermia, mute character, no editing we die like roibns, pre-robin tim, pre-spoiler steph, rawr, short follow up to 'a girl in the snow', steph is a bby bi, there are vauge plans for another one with Jason but don't quote me, these kids are still crazy, tim and steph are gonna be like fire and ice just wait, until I have an actual timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-11-13 15:25:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18034283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tht0neGal666/pseuds/Tht0neGal666
Summary: Steph was happy that the girl seemed to be trying, at least (no one ever really tried for her), and widened her smile more. Maybe she could smile enough for both of them, while the girl got better at smiling. She didn't mind.Or; Steph meets the prettiest girl she's ever seen and she, a curious 10 year old, decides she wants to know everything about her. It could have gone worse.





	The Girl Without A Name

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! So, it seems like everyone Loved 'A Girl In The Snow', which is neat because I loved this verse. Shoutout to JelloSwingSet's comment in particular, which cheered me up on a bad day and got me to actually post this thing thats been rotting nervously in my WIP folder. Enjoy!!

She met a girl once.

The Girl was feral, maybe, but mostly she was quiet. The girl was creepy and looked like she hadn't eaten in days. The girl stared at her weirdly, and Steph didn't know quite what she was supposed to say. She felt like a-what was the saying- a dear in the headlights. She couldn't move. The girl didn't seem real, kind of magic and not quite there. She couldn't bring herself to look away.

She had just been going to the store to spend her allowance on junk food that mom wouldn't let her eat- she would be back before mom woke up. Mom had a long day at work last night, so she had plenty of time. Or at least, she would have plenty of time, if she went to the store instead of staring at the strange girl. 

It dawns on Steph that it was rude to stare at someone. She didn't want the girl to think she was rude. The girl was a little creepy, but she was cute. Steph didn't want her to not like Steph. An idea spawns, and she pulls a bag of chips from her too-big coat, handing them over to the girl with the brightest smile she could manage, trying to seem as kind and genuine as possible. It wasn't easy to trust people in Gotham, Steph usually didn't (she wasn't sure why this girl was different), so she had to work extra hard to seem trustworthy. Though sometimes that just made people madder and suspisiouser- is that a word? whatever- if she was nice. She kinda figured that if they don't like her for being nice, they aren't the kind of person Steph wants to be nice to anyway. She hoped the girl wasn't like that. Steph wanted to be nice to the girl.

The girl watched her very carefully, eyes narrowing and body tensing at the action. Steph flinched at the sight, a little sad and scared, but didn't let it stop her from reaching her arm out to give the chips to The Girl, though not enough to be in The Girl's space. The girl was still kind of creepy and, as mucha as Steph liked her already, she wasn't entirely sure that The Girl wouldn't hurt her if she posed a threat. When the girl just stared at her hand, Steph gave a (only slightly nervous) chuckle and placed them on the dirty Gotham ground, stepping back with her arms up and nodding at the bag encouragingly. 

The Girl's eyes widened, and she crouched slowly, waiting for Steph to attack her or something as she picked the bag up. She didn't look away from Steph as her fingers ran over the bag, probably checking to see if there were any holes where she could have slipped something into the bag? Steph didn't know. She never took food from strangers, so she didn't know the procedures to see if said food was safe. Apparently satisfied and surprised, the girl forcibly relaxed her stance- not to, like, normal human standing, but she looked like a much more loosely wound spring now, which was neat. 

The girl focused on Steph's mouth for a few awkward seconds and Steph froze, like she was modeling or something, not wanting to change whatever the girl was looking for. Suddenly, the girl's mouth started twitching in a way that was kind of disturbing, before it shaped itself into a hesitant and smaller version of Steph's smile. 

Steph was happy that the girl seemed to be trying, at least (no one ever really tried for her), and widened her smile more. Maybe she could smile enough for both of them, while the girl got better at smiling. She didn't mind.

She opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again because she couldn't think of anything to say. She wanted to ask a question, but questions weren't exactly common etiquette for strangers in Gotham. She floundered for a second, blushing, and then straightened up with surprise. She hadn't even introduced herself!

"I- I'm Steph." She says, waving in greeting. The Girl mouthed her name with something akin to wonder, but didn't make a noise. She just stared at Steph, head tilted a little, like she was a puzzle. Steph's face heated up, unused to so much undivided attention, but she wanted to keep it for as long as she could. 

"Well. My name's Stephanie, actually. but that's a mouthful, I think. And it takes way to long to say all of it, ya' know? So. I go by Steph." no one talked to her anyway. If someone was talking to her, she didn't want to make them waste precious syllables on her name when they could be using them to talk to her. She liked her name, actually, It sounded fancy, like Arora or Jasmine or Elizabeth. It sounded like a princess name, she thought. One day, she'd get enough attention that she wouldn't have to worry that people would lose interest in her by the time they finish her name. for now though, "Steph is fine." She finished the thought out loud, not wanting to get lost in her head when the moment was so close to magical. "What's your name?" she whispered, because it felt like a forbidden question. Steph wanted to know, though.

The girl mouthed 'Steph-a-nie' very slowly, hands gripping the bag of chips, like it was something sacred. Steph wondered if this odd encounter felt as mystical to The Girl as it was to Steph. The thought that she wasn't the only one out of her depth here made her feel better. The girl didn't answer her question, though. She just scrunched up her nose and looked confused before shaking her head slowly, eyes never leaving Steph's.

"You...don't have a name?" Steph asked slowly, bewildered at the thought. She knew that Gotham was, just, the worst, even if it was home. She knew that unthinkable things happened every day. But, somehow, she was angrier over this then she had been over anything else in her life, even her dad. Her dad was a piece of shit and her mom didn't have the time of day to give her, but at least she had a name!

The girl flinched at her shrill tone and shook her head, leaving Steph's jaw hanging open. The girl shifted on her feet (gracefully, somehow), looking ready to bolt, and steph composed herself with an apologetic grimace. She didn't want The Girl to be uncomfortable or afraid of her.

She suddenly felt like maybe it was wrong of her, ungrateful or something, to go by a third of her name when this girl had nothing. 

"Who are you?" a voice demanded beside her, and steph just about jumped out of her skin. A boy silently appeared besides her, looking similar-but-not to The Girl. The Boy was dignified where the girl seemed feral and his eyes were closed and frozen unlike The Girl who just seemed curious. He seemed dangerous somehow, but not like he could take her in a fight. He and the girl both had black hair and blue eyes and were just as pretty as each other, and maybe they were siblings, but his eyes were lighter and her hair was thinner, so maybe they weren't. 

The Girl seemed studied her like she was trying to figure out what Steph could do to hurt her. The Boy studied her like he was trying to figure out what he could do to hurt Steph. 

"Steph." She introduced again on instinct before she remembered her thoughts from earlier and hesitated only for a moment before correcting, "Stephanie. Do you have a name?" She was still whispering, and she wasn't quite sure why. It felt like if she was too loud the moment would shatter, and the two kids would disappear.

"Tim. Timothy." He responded crisply, but Stephanie saw something in his eyes flicker, and she thought that maybe he understood being afraid of your own name. He sized her up again and then looked at The Girl. He tilted his head exactly like The Girl had before, and the girl gave a weird nod, like the motion was unfamiliar. 

"Who's she?" Stephanie asked before she could stop herself, because she wanted to know. For the first time since laying eyes on The Girl, she turned away from her to focus on The Boy- Timothy. She was curious, and he seemed to have more answers. 

"Who's who?" Timothy asked with a raised eyebrow, expression betraying nothing. Steph growled and turned to gesture at The Girl, only to freeze.

The Girl was gone.

She turned back to Timothy, a demand for an explanation on her lips, and froze again.

Timothy was also gone.

She wanted to look for them, to shout for them, to find them and learn more. She was burning with a need for answers, but all she did was sigh. Something, the gut instinct that all gothamites knew to follow, told her that looking for them wouldn't get her anywhere. 

She ran home, out of time and motivation to spend the only money she had right then. She didn't mention it when Mom yawned an absent inquiry about her day. 

She wasn't entirely convinced the encounter with The Girl and Timothy was even real.


End file.
